It is a common practice to barbecue stakes, chops, hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill over a charcoal fire. More recently, the outdoor cookout has begun to include other foods such as those best cooked in a cooking utensil known as a “wok”. The use of the wok involves cooking techniques incorporating a minimum amount of fats and oils. At times vegetables and meats are cooked for a very short time at high heats. The typical stir-fly recipe calls for a cooking time of less then five minutes. Such rapid cooking combined with the use of small quantities of fat provides substantial health benefits because less fat is absorbed in the food compared with traditional Western style frying. In addition, the wok style of cooking tends to seal the flavor into the food, rendering it more appealing to the palate.
The wok can be easily cleaned and readily reusable for cooking several items on the same menu. The rounded smooth metal surface may be wiped out or dumped for cleaning with little or no residue. Although the wok has many culinary advantages because of its shape, it has fundamental instability problems because of its generally hemispherical shape and relatively small surface on which to rest. The wok was originally developed to be placed directly on hollowed-out sections of coals on the ground and/or on rings with a wide base fire built below. The wok does not adapt well to cooking on modern ranges and as a result a number of devices have been suggested as a substitute for the above mentioned hollowed-out section of coals on the ground.
One of the problems with the use of a wok in combination with an outdoor grill is that the wok needs a consistent fuel source, such as a propane tank. The propane tanks may be difficult to move in and out of place for efficient heating operations. The wok should be supported in place in order to provide fuel for heating the wok.